You’re Missing the Point of Frank Ocean’s Open Letter to the Grammys

Think Frank Ocean’s open letter is all about throwing shade at Taylor Swift? Think again.

Ocean has long been vocal about his frustrations with the Grammy Awards, mainly being their lack of inclusion. Time and time again, they’ve chosen to award white artists over black ones when it seems clear to many viewers that the black artists had the better songs/albums/videos.

Most recently Ocean posted to his Tumblr to discuss the issues with the Grammys the last few years and used Taylor Swift’s award for Album of the Year last year for 1989 as a prime example.

Of course, in reality this is just one of many examples. (Another is Adele’s winning Album of the Year this year while Beyoncé was passed over). And yet readers and Swifties have forgotten the message of the letter and have taken this as an attack on Swift. But in truth, this is not what his letter is about. It’s about the perpetual lack of recognition for black artists in America. It’s about white privilege winning out yet again in a time when equality is more important than ever.

One twitter user puts it best by writing,

“Frank said some valid shit about the bias against black people at the Grammys but yeah let’s reduce it to shade at Taylor Swift.”

Lena Finkel is the Editor and Founder of Femestella. Prior to started Femestella, she worked at People, InStyle, and Tiger Beat. She’s currently obsessed with Vanderpump Rules, lipstick, and her kitty Tom.